Other than comic books, I hadn’t read many
personal books growing up. I had an
explosion of reading at the end of HS/beginning of college. I took a liking to Steven King’s writings. I got so engrossed in a character while I was
riding on the subway train. After
exiting the train, as I approached the turnstile, I felt as if I couldn’t talk. The character I was reading about was
mute. I quickly came to my senses but oh
the joy of a good book. There was a lull
in my reading frenzy followed by another explosion when JK Rowling’s Harry
Potter series hit the stands. I couldn’t
wait to get to the next one but was always sad to get to the end, because I
didn’t want the book to end. When our
children were born, we made sure we read to them every day. They loved books and one in particular is The
monster at the end of this book.
This book and my up and down book reading
reminded me of how I read the Bible. A
lot of people read, know, and love the beginning story of creation. In the beginning God created (that was my
sad attempt at James Earl Jones impersonation (Star Wars fans will know who he
is)...the seventh day He rested...God walked and talked with Adam in the cool
of day...the setting was picturesque, pure, and pleasing to the senses...throw
in vegetarian eating (an awesome start to a book)...enter the serpent...the
apple...the fall and exile...birth and murder...a created people...the
flood...a rainbow and a new beginning.
Genesis provides all the makings of a movie
blockbuster... intrigue, death, conniving, love, action. It’s a good read that captivates you to keep
going. But by the time Leviticus and Numbers rolls around, the rollercoaster
rides on a downhill swing. It picks up
again around Deuteronomy, coast for a little bit before making upward and
downward swings again. And if you are
like me, I never wanted to read the end of the Bible because there was a
monster, quite a few actually, at the end of the book. I dabbled but relatively stayed away from the
book of Revelations way into my adult years.
Many folks are scared to read Revelations because of God’s judgement on
His people.
Many people are scared because it involves the
devil, spiritual warfare in real life, is characterized with dragons, death,
plagues, scorpion like creatures...Because of my fear, I never knew the very
end of the Bible that Isaiah foretold chapters and centuries before.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be
glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem
to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and
be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the
cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few
days, or an old man who does not fill out his days...my chosen shall long enjoy
the work of their hands. In other words,
our swords, our weapons of war are beaten into plowshares, because no more will
there be war over each other’s land and possessions. The old things, the old ways gone, never to
return. Yet because of my fear, I never
really knew this.”
Nor my favorite part of the whole bible, which
happens to be in Revelations, where it says:
“The angel showed me a
river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the
throne where God and the Lamb were seated. Then it flowed down the middle of
the city’s main street. On each side of the river are trees that grow a different
kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are
used as medicine to heal the nations.”
-Revelation 22:1-2
The Bible as a whole is a story of God’s love
and a strong desire to be with, closely work in and through the lives of His
creation. We can see this theme
happening throughout the book. As we
change lenses to get a closer perspective (Star Wars fans will know what I’m
referencing), today’s reading comes from the gospel book of Matthew.
He wrote to a specific audience around 85-90
AD.
Jewish Christians were living in a period of
post-temple destruction, which occurred in 70 AD. Temple worship was no longer central for Jews
who followed the old faith traditions and Rome still occupied the nation. Jews and Jewish Christians faced high taxes,
exile, persecution from Rome, and many were killed during the war years or fled
to other nations around the world.
Jewish Christians were also harassed by Jews
because of their new faith. Matthew’s
main purpose in writing the gospel was to show his audience that Jesus was the
promised Messiah. He was the one talked
about in the stories and written about in the “Old” scriptures, and that God’s
promises had been, were being, and will continue to be fulfilled.
So as we read and try to understand scripture,
it is imperative that we see it from the lens of the people, time, culture, and
setting, for which it was written. The
trouble occurs when we replace our own time, culture, language, and
understanding with the setting of the writer.
We will miss out on a lot of what God has to offer
if we fail to recognize who the book was it written to, when was it written,
what was going on at the time, and what was God’s active, sovereign work over
creation in that particular setting.
So that’s Matthew as a whole. Now we can change the lens again (Star Wars
fans) to go deeper into today’s scripture.
What was Matthew talking about when he mentions so many times the
kingdom of heaven. If we compare
Matthews gospel to the other two Synoptics, we see that they use kingdom of God
instead. Matthew is not referring to
God’s dwelling place heaven. Some
scholars believe it was just a way to circumvent the use of saying the name for
God.
The phrase, kingdom of heaven/God, was never
really defined but rather used as a simile or metaphor by Jesus in His parables
to describe God’s ever present, ever working in and through, sovereign reign
over His creation. The Christian readers
of Matthew’s time knew this language and discussed what it meant for them in
their time. How can we Christians today
make sense of the language? Parables are
confusing in themselves let alone try to figure out what the kingdom of heaven
is. So let’s take a closer look at what
the scripture is saying. The kingdom of heaven is like:
· What
happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field? What happens when a woman adds
a little yeast to a large amount of flour?
·
These two
speaks of the abundance of God’s kingdom
· What
happens when someone finds treasure hidden? What happens when a shop owner is
looking for fine pearls?
· These two speaks of giving up all you have for
the one treasure - eternal life.
· What
happens when a net is thrown into a lake?
· This one talks about the time of judgment. The end of the age. The monster at the end of
the book. It also speaks to the beauty
of God’s grace and love for those who choose Him.
Matthew uses many other parables in reference
to God’s kingdom. Who will and will not
get in, people keeping others from entering, inheriting the kingdom, being
childlike, the least in the kingdom, people from everywhere enjoying the feast
in the kingdom with the patriarchs, and with Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of God is here. The kingdom of heaven is future looking. The kingdom of God is never static or central
but always moving yet ever present with time and outside of time.
It is also revealed through the Holy Spirit to
those who are willing to see and hear God’s truth. Jesus spoke about the kingdom in parables to
the people, but explained their meaning only to the disciples. He told them- the prophets of old longed to
see and hear what you witnessed. The
mysteries of the kingdom were being revealed to them when most were “seeing but
could not see and hearing but could not hear”.
So, I ask you Christian, if the Holy Spirit is
allowing you to see while others are blind and hear while others are deaf, what
are you doing today with the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom. What are you doing today in the face of
racism in America?
I shared yesterday in a zoom meeting how white
women clutch their purse when they see me walking down the street towards
them. When they do that subconsciously
or consciously, they are not seeing Edgar the preacher, fireman, teacher,
farmer, father, husband, human being and child of God. What they see is the stereotypical image of a
black man as thief.
What are you doing today Christian as the 1st
and second wave of Corona virus cases are increasing? Are you recognizing the harvest in the
fields? Are you continuing to do the work
of God, safely, while not allowing fear and/or isolation govern your life? Jesus says the “harvest is plenty, but the
workers are few.” So what are you doing
today Christian in the face of hunger, mental illness, understanding systemic
racism in all its forms , opioid addiction, jobless rate increase, health
crisis, depression, homelessness, misogyny, or human trafficking? More and more people are in need of help
these days.
What are you doing today, Christian?
If we were to write up a parable for our time
today, it could be: The kingdom of heaven is like when a Christian allowed the
Holy Spirit to open their eyes and open their ears. People were not seen as objects or lesser
than and everyone fought together against the spiritual forces waging war
against the soul. Lord we pray that your
kingdom come soon in order for your Will to be done on this earth as it is in
heaven. Amen.
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